Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $7.21 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 62.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,635 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 93,165 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $7,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 29,590 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,609,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,758,000 after purchasing an additional 343,175 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 2,116,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $294,307,000 after purchasing an additional 467,451 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.5 %

A stock opened at $141.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.